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New Musicals Australia has announced a plethora of exciting and diverse projects in its next installment of presentations and workshops for November and December 2011.

25 November – 17 December 2011

The program includes the Workshop Presentations of four new musicals and the Writers’ Weekend inclusive of The Musical Snapshot Workshops, which presents a thirty minute extract of the musical in concert alongside the first Workshop Presentation.

The Writers’ Weekend, which runs from Friday, 25 to Sunday, 27 November launches the November/ December season of workshops and will comprise of three snapshot presentations and the first workshop presentation. In celebration of Australian talent and to kick off the summer workshop season, New Musicals Australia will also host an evening concert on Saturday, 26 November as part of the Writers’ Weekend with industry professionals performing new Australian works.

Four musical theatre works are receiving a Workshopand Developmental Reading Presentation, which will grant each project a one week rehearsal period with a professional cast and production team, followed by a staged reading of the work in November / December 2011. The four recipients of the Workshop presentation are:

Transport, by Larry Kirwan &Thomas Keneally, tells a universal story of immigration, loss, hope and redemption and the Irish Diaspora to the Australian penal colony. Under the direction of Director, Stuart Maunder and Musical Director, Anne-Maree McDonald, Transport is being presented on Friday, 25 November and Sunday, 27 November at Sidetrack Theatre.

Tim Freedman & Alex Broun’s Truth, beauty and a picture of you is based on the life, characters and songs of one of Australia’s greatest singer-songwriters, Tim Freedman. Directed by Neil Gooding,Truth, beauty and a picture of you is being presented on Friday, 2 & Saturday, 3 December. Venue yet to be confirmed.

Following the success of its inaugural season in March this year, New Musicals Australia is also including presentations in Melbourne. The exuberant and tragically comical tale about the spring racing carnival of 1933, Carnival Joe by Mark Jones & Anthony Crowley is being presented on Saturday, 10 and Sunday, 11 December at a Melbourne venue soon to be announced. Christian Leavesley is directing Carnival Joe with Mark Jones, the original composer as Musical Director.

Director Rachel Moorhead and original creator, Musical Director David King are directing The Good Fight. Music by David King, book and lyrics by Nick Enright and with further material by James Millar, The Good Fight is set against the background of the 1st World War and concerns the life of legendary boxer Les Darcy and his meteoric rise and fall. The Good Fight is being presented at The Concourse, the stunning new theatre complex in Chatswood on Friday, 16 and Saturday, 17 December, 7.30pm.

As part of New Musicals Australia’s commitment to developing and unveiling new Australian work, many of the workshop sessions are open to the public.Tickets to most events are free but bookings are essential as space is limited.Ticket requests to all events can be made via the New Musicals website